Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 provides that a list of eligible countries should be amended to take account of changes in the international status or classification of countries. The list of eligible countries is established in Annex I to that Regulation.

Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 establishes criteria for the granting of tariff preferences under the general arrangement of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). In accordance with such criteria, a country that has been classified by the World Bank as a high or an upper-middle income country for three consecutive years should not benefit from such preferences. The list of beneficiary countries of the general arrangement of the GSP is established in Annex II to that Regulation.

Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 provides that a country that is identified by the UN as a least-developed country should benefit from the tariff preferences under the special arrangement for the least-developed countries (EBA). The list of EBA beneficiary countries is established in Annex IV to that Regulation.

The Republic of Croatia (hereinafter Croatia) became a member of the European Union as of 1 July 2013. Therefore, Croatiashould be removed from Annex I.

The Republic of South Sudan (hereinafter South Sudan) has become an independent State. On 14 July 2011, the General Assembly of United Nations adopted Resolution A/RES/65/308 admitting South Sudan to membership in the United Nations. On 18 December 2012, the General Assembly of United Nations adopted Resolution A/RES/67/136 adding South Sudan to the list of Least Developed Countries. Therefore, South Sudan should be included in Annexes I, II and IV.

Regulation (EU) No 607/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 552/97 temporarily withdrawing access to generalised tariff preferences from Myanmar/Burma2 repealed the temporary withdrawal of Myanmar/Burma’s access to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) tariff preferences. Therefore, Myanmar/Burma should be removed from the table in Annex I, which lists the ‘Eligible countries of the scheme referred to in Article 3 which have been temporarily withdrawn from the scheme, in respect of all or of certain products originating in these countries’, from the table in Annex II which lists the ‘Beneficiary countries of the general arrangement referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) which have been temporarily withdrawn from that arrangement, in respect of all or of certain products originating in these countries’ and from the table in Annex IV, which lists the ‘Beneficiary countries of the special arrangement for the least-developed countries referred to in point (c) of Article 1(2) which have been temporarily withdrawn from that arrangement, in respect of all or of certain products originating in these countries’.

The People’s Republic of China (hereinafter China), the Republic of Ecuador (hereinafter Ecuador), the Republic of Maldives (hereinafter the Maldives) and the Kingdom of Thailand (hereinafter Thailand) have been classified by the World Bank as upper-middle income countries in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Accordingly, China, Ecuador, the Maldives and Thailandshould be removed from Annex II as from one year after the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

Commission Regulation (EU) No 1127/20103 establishes a three-year transitional period for withdrawing the Maldives from the special arrangement for the least-developed countries (Everything But Arms (EBA)) and provides for the removal of the Maldivesfrom the list of EBA beneficiary countries as of 1 January 2014. Therefore, the Maldivesshould be removed from Annex IV.

Article 5(2) of the GSP Regulation provides a GSP beneficiary country and economic operators with time for orderly adaptation to the change in the country’s status under the scheme. This period should be indicated for each GSP beneficiary country concerned in the respective Annex to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012,